Return to the Lord - Lent 2020
Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
Joel 2:13
These words from the book of Joel are a familiar echo in the Lenten season. Instead of the “Alleluia” we normally sing before the Gospel reading, a call to repentance is issued at this time of the year. Although it can be a somber subject to consider repentance, since repentance points our attention to the brokenness of our sinful state, the truth about God’s character revealed through the prophet Joel is, in fact, Good News.
God is ready and willing to forgive, and as the parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:20) illustrates, He runs to meet the repentant sinner. How unlike human beings! Where we give people the silent treatment for days, even years before we are ready to forgive, God gives grace, mercy, and forgiveness immediately.
Beyond singing these words from the book of Joel during the Lenten season, in what sort of setting can you see yourself sharing these words with another? The opportunity God gave me to share these words was at a funeral service for a young man in our community who was murdered.
There was not much I could say regarding the man’s faith. I am not sure whether or not he had any. All that I could say was that for all of us, when we turn to the LORD in repentance, we do not find a vengeful, angry God, but one who is ready to forgive. We see this most clearly in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus.
Although the loss of their loved one was one of the more difficult things in life this family has had to bear, the love of God brings hope to the survivors. God calls all of us to return to Him, and we will see His steadfast love.
Dear Lord, I thank and praise you for your forgiveness, won for me by your Son’s death on the cross. I pray you would daily drown the sinful nature in me, and that a new person will rise to see your steadfast love. Amen.